Brookshire Rx offers competitive pricing

The brand-new Fresh Health Prescription Plan from Brookshire Grocery was rolled out on March 10. It’s a comprehensive prescription plan that shoppers in the chain’s new Fresh by Brookshire’s store, which opened in March 2010, can purchase for a $10 membership fee.

“The program covers generic and brand prescriptions at very competitive pricing compared to what they’d pay with insurance and third-party plans,” said Jim Cousineau, Brookshire SVP pharmacy operations.

“It’s for shoppers who don’t have insurance or third-party plans. We thought the Fresh banner gave us the opportunity to market and test this with a little bit different clientele, and then determine whether or not this is something we could expand to our other banners,” Cousineau said.

Also at this 55,000-sq.-ft. store is an in-depth nutritional center. The goal, Cousineau explained, is to fuse the pharmacy, grocery and nutritional center as a combined health-and-wellness initiative.

In 2009, Brookshire started offering a wider selection of health-and-beauty products and established sections devoted to diabetes, sleep and therapeutic aids and supplies in a remodeled Super 1 Foods store in Lafayette, La.

The program’s success has been average, Cousineau said. However, components of the program were expanded to another store, in Denton, Texas, where it seems to be doing better, “so we may be able to have a better barometer based on this store,” he explained. If it continues to go well, the program may be extended, though he added, “I don’t know that we ever see it as a real bastion of business for us.”

What has been a success from day one are diagnostic services in four of Brookshire’s stores. These include such screenings as blood glucose and body mass index. That program is being expanded, as is an immunization program that has recently grown to cover travel vaccines and other offerings, such as the pneumococcal vaccine.

Brookshire also has a free antibiotic program and discounted generics program.

H-E-B adding clinics, new Rx services

“After all, we’re from around here, too.” That message, delivered to millions of Texas consumers via the pharmacy page on H-E-B’s heavily scanned website, lies at the heart of the San Antonio-based supermarket chain’s seemingly unshakeable grip on both customers and patients in the Lone Star State. The H.E. Butt Grocery Co. maintains high marks for customer loyalty, innovative patient care services, a quality shopping experience and plenty of healthy choices in its food aisles.

H-E-B pharmacists now provide health screenings for blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol every second Saturday of the month from March through October, as well as quarterly A1C exams for patients with diabetes. Those patients also are eligible for a free InControl No Coding starter kit when they fill their first script for a diabetes medication.

H-E-B also builds loyalty with its Rx Rewards Platinum card. For a $5 enrollment fee, the card provides discounts on some 500 generic drugs, vaccinations and pet medicines, as well as free health screenings and free prenatal vitamins. Last summer, the company also extended its reach electronically with the launch of an improved website for prescription renewals and a new link with customers’ mobile phones.

To ward off disease, the company’s pharmacies and clinicians now offer periodic immunizations, not only for flu but also for hepatitis A and B, HPV/cervical cancer, measles, meningitis, pneumonia, shingles and tetanus. That appeal to disease prevention has permeated the food aisles as well; H-E-B promotes healthier nutritional choices with programs like its Fully Fit branding program, which identifies healthy foods throughout the store, and the H-E-Buddy campaign, designed to educate kids about healthier foods and snacks.

In partnership with RediClinic, H-E-B aggressively is expanding its network of in-store clinics. RediClinic revealed last fall it will open another 20 clinics in H-E-B stores this year, nearly doubling its presence within the Texas chain, with a focus on the Austin, Houston and San Antonio regions.

Raley’s continues focus on patient care

Like most retailers in California, combo-store pioneer Raley’s Supermarkets has been in a slow growth mode since the recession began in 2008. “We still have 105 pharmacies, so not a lot has changed in the past few years,” said John Segale, a spokesman for the Sacramento-based chain.

That’s the same number Raley’s had in 2008 when the recession began. Since then, Raley’s has added four supermarkets, raising its total store count from 129 to 133 that operate under four banners, comprising Raley’s (85), Bel-Air (22), Nob Hill (21) and Food Source (5). Food Source is a warehouse-format chain it launched in 1994, while Bel-Air and Nob Hill are small chains it acquired in the 1990s.

Though the pharmacy division hasn’t added new stores, it’s continued to build an already strong slate of educational events, health screenings and special programs for customers. Raley’s newest program is called Pharmacist Care for Diabetes, which was launched in late 2010 with the University of California-San Francisco, insurer Blue Shield and members of the California Public Employees Retirement System, or CalPERS. Under the program, CalPERs members who have diabetes and fill their scripts at Raley’s can have a one-on-one meeting with their pharmacists to develop programs to better manage their blood-sugar levels.

“Through this unique partnership, more patients living with diabetes can receive enhanced support from their pharmacist,” said Raley’s VP pharmacy and healthy lifestyles Flint Pendergraft.

Raley’s also recently launched its ReadyFill program, which notifies customers by phone or email when a script refill is ready for pickup. And its pharmacies offer vaccines for more than a half-dozen diseases.

RELATED NEWS

The workshops, sponsored by McKesson, have been offered by the Alexandria, Va.-based organization for more than 20 years and are slated to take place June 8-10 in Denver, Colo., and Oct. 4-6 in Boston.

Forgotten Password

Registration complete

REGISTER

USERNAME *

Spaces are allowed; punctuation is not allowed except for periods, hyphens, and underscores.

E-MAIL ADDRESS *

A valid e-mail address. All e-mails from the system will be sent to this address. The e-mail address is not made public and will only be used if you wish to receive a new password or wish to receive certain news or notifications by e-mail.

Password *

Confirm Password *

Please choose a password for your account; it must be 8 - 30 characters. .

First Name *

Last Name *

Company Name *

Job Title *

ZIP *

Country *

Are you a *

Retailer or Healthcare professional

Non-Retailer

How many stores do you operate?: *

Which best describes the business/industry you work in?: *

Which best describes your job title?: *

Please select the newsletters you would like to subscribe to

DSN A.M.
Daily news stories covering the retail drug industry

Breaking News
First-to-the-market with developing stories in the industry